At Your Service: In the Loop
July 1, 2008
When you hail from a carpet family, things can have a funny way of looping around. That’s what happened to Alicia Keshishian, whose grandfather founded the Maryland-based Mark Keshishian & Sons, which has provided Persian and Oriental carpets to several White House occupants. Alicia spent 25 years as an art director and illustrator before founding her own company, Alicia D. Keshishian Carpets of Imagination, four years ago.
"To me, rugs are an ideal medium for creating a living piece of art," she explains. "It’s like a delightful marriage of my background and skills."
Based in the quaint Northern California town of Petaluma, Keshishian designs custom carpets that are handmade in Nepal, using the finest Tibetan wool from high-altitude sheep—which produce a strong yet soft fiber rich in natural lanolins. The incorporation of silk adds a rich luster and a luxurious feel.
Though Keshishian’s rugs are crafted using ancient techniques, her designs are unapologetically modern, with a graphic or painterly bent. She reserves more subtle patterns for "many of us who collect or have inherited antiques, yet want to put their own stamp on their look."
Recalling childhood visits to her grandfather’s store and home, Keshishian observes that the beauty and luxury of a handmade rug is "all in the touching. As soon as you feel a really good quality carpet, the others pale in comparison."
Alicia D. Keshishian Carpets of Imagination, 707.775.3494, www.adkcarpets.com
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